Resurrection Mary
by ParadiseAvenger
Summary: When Bou-san brings Naru the case of the Vanishing Hitchhiker, Mary, who disappeared from his car outside Resurrection Cemetery, Mai learns something about Naru and the person he lost in a hit and run that she never expected. Mild Spoilers. MaiXNaru.


I do not own the song/poem "Bringing Mary Home" by Red Sovine.

Spoilers if you don't know about the Naru Mai dreams about. (*cough* Gene *cough*)

Wow, this came out really really long!

**File Nine: Resurrection Mary**

Taniyama Mai made herself some breakfast for dinner. It was one of her favorite things to do, something left over from her childhood. Her mother always used to make her breakfast for dinner when she was young… before she died and left Mai an orphan, that was. So, Mai was smiling bitter-sweetly from ear to ear as she sat down at her small wobbly-legged table with her plate of garlic-y and onion-y home fries and over-easy dippy eggs.

"Yum!" she said eagerly and dug in.

In the corner of her coffee-colored eyes, she was watching the clock as she ate. At eight o'clock, her friends would be by to pick her up and they were going out on a double-date—dancing, then a light dessert, and finally a movie. Mai had even gotten her boss, Shibuya Kazuya aka Naru the Narcissist, to let her out of work early so she would have time to take a bath and get ready. That in itself was a rare feat for Naru to show her kindness, but he had been different ever since the case with the Yoshimi family and the cursing god.

Maybe his brush with death had put his life in perspective.

Sadly, she lowered her hands and stared at them. Naru had, for all intents and purposes, been dead at that time, but Lin's and John's quick action had saved his life. After that, Lin had explained to her about Naru's dangerous psychic abilities and powers. Mai had never been able to look at Naru quite the same and he acted a little different towards her as well. Maybe he sensed that Lin had told her something about him and his secrets. Maybe he was concerned that she would blackmail him like Masako did. Either way…

There was a knock on her door and Michiru called, "Mai-chan! Ready to go?"

"Be right there!" Mai shouted. She had been so lost in thought that she hadn't even finished her dinner. Quickly, she shoveled in the home fries and eggs, wiped her mouth, threw her plate in the sink, shoved her feet into her shoes, and hurled herself out the door. "Ready!"

"Let's go!" Michiru said cheerfully, grabbing Mai's arm before she could go falling head over heels down the stairs in front of her apartment. "Mai, this is Takuno. He's the one I told you about," the girl gestured to her boyfriend. "And this is Akito."

"Hi!" Mai said cheerfully and shook hands with the blind date Michiru had set up for her.

Akito grinned and she noticed that he had perfect white teeth. He was cute, she thought. Maybe she could make this work. Then, she could stop dreaming about Naru and get her act together. "You look lovely, Mai-san," Akito complimented Mai.

"Thank you," she said and spun for his approval. She was wearing a short denim skirt trimmed with black lace, a tank top in pale green with black lace sleeves, and some black Converse high-tops. She had eyed herself in a mirror a few times before she left and thought she looked darn cute, too.

"Well, shall we get going?" Michiru asked, smiling.

"Yup!" Mai said eagerly.

The four of them headed off towards the small club, chattering to each other noisily in the way only young people could. Michiru and Takuno were holding hands, Mai and Akito doing the same after an embarrassing moment of silence and some awkward staring. Akito's hand was warm and rough, noting like Naru's soft cool one when she held his hand in her dreams. Mai shook herself roughly, smiling at Akito when he looked at her questioningly. She was not going to think like that! Naru was a narcissist and a jerk—and she was finished dealing with his crap. Akito was cute. She was going to enjoy this.

**I was driving down a lonely road on a dark and stormy night  
>When a little girl by the roadside showed up in my headlights.<br>I stopped and she got in the back and, in a shaky tone,  
>She said, 'My name is Mary. Please, won't you take me home?'<strong>

Takigawa Houshou was driving home from one of his band gigs, his bass tossed in the trunk, cowboy hat and leather overcoat taking up the backseat. The headlights were stabbing through the inky darkness, illuminating the passing trees and their ragged empty branches. He yawned, exhausted from playing and wagging his ass all over the lit-up stage. He was looking forward to taking a hot shower and collapsing in his bed as soon as he got home. It was then that he saw her. She was so beautiful and glowing faintly in the glare of his headlights that for a moment, he thought she might have been a ghost.

But she wasn't. She was just a young girl in a creamy old-fashioned party gown. Her pale golden hair rippled over her shoulders and, even from this distance, he could make out her bright blue eyes that were as deep and dark as Naru's.

Being the kind of man he was, Houshou slowed his car and rolled down the window. "Hey, can I give you a lift somewhere, miss?"

She nodded, pulled open the passenger door, and got in. The sweet scent of roses filled Houshou's car, making him dizzy and drowsy. He left the window open and started to drive. The cool night air toyed with her pale hair, feathering it against her milk-white cheeks, and he couldn't help but think about how beautiful she looked/

"Where do you live?" he asked the strange girl.

"Just head down Archer Avenue," she murmured, "I'll tell you where."

"That's a lovely dress," he said conversationally. "Were you at a party?"

She nodded, smiling at him. "My name is Mary," she continued. "What's yours?"

"Houshou," he said, smiling at her.

"That's a nice name," she remarked.

The road wound on ahead of them like a black ribbon. The trees lined the side of the road, moonlit and rattling together in the night breeze like bones. It was a little eerie and the breeze was cold, but the young woman never once uttered complaint. She patiently sat in the passenger seat, gazing out the window. Houshou turned down Archer Avenue towards Cicero, relaxed in the scent of Mary's rose perfume.

Then, suddenly, she shouted. "Stop here!"

He slammed on the brakes. "What? What is it?"

She pointed, her arm appeared slightly twisted. "There!"

Houshou turned his head to look, but he didn't see anything. To the left, there was only a vast necropolis—a spanning cemetery—with the heavy gates bearing the name Resurrection Cemetery in dark wrought iron letters. Other than that, there was nothing there. There was no house, not even a shack. There was absolutely no place for this beautiful girl in the lovely dress to possibly live. There was no way she lived in a cemetery, right?

"I don't see—" he turned to look at her, but she was gone.

For a moment, Houshou just stared at the empty seat. The seatbelt that she had fastened across her chest was even still buckled, but the girl was gone. He would swear on his grandmother's grave that the door had never opened. She was just gone—vanished without a trace from the passenger seat of his car. The only proof that he hadn't imagined the whole thing was the lingering scent of her rose perfume and the still-fastened seatbelt.

**She must have been so frightened, all alone there in the night  
>There was something strange about her because her face was deathly white<br>She sat so pale and quiet, there in the backset all alone,  
>I never will forget that night I took Mary home.<strong>

The night before, after the dancing, Akito had walked Mai home. He had kissed her on the cheek at her door, made sure she was safely inside, and then left. So, Mai figured with a sigh, he was a nice guy but it was definitely not going to work out between them. Akito couldn't even get through a cheesy B-rated horror flick so dating a girl who hunted ghosts was out of the question. Oh well, it had been nice to get out and Mai hadn't liked him enough to think about giving up her job.

As creepy as it was and as big a pain as Naru was, she enjoyed it.

So, the next day, she arrived at the office in Shibuya bright and early. As usual, when she arrived, the office was empty and she had to let herself in with her key. She got some coffee brewing, filled the tea pot so that all she would have to do was heat it when Naru arrived and started demanding tea from her, and poured herself a glass of orange juice. Then, with a sigh, she began going through her morning routine with the office—straightening up everything, filing away the files Naru had taken out, and folding up the massive map that Naru had spread all over the table.

This was the first tie Naru had ever left his map out where she could get to it and she took the moment to snoop in her boss's life. He insisted that he read the map to meditate, but really… who meditated over a map? In fact, Mai realized that ever body of water on the entire map had been circled in red. Some had been crossed out with a thick black X, but most of them were still circled. Were these the places he went when he left the office and came back all moody?

She folded up the map, not without some difficulty. What was it with maps? Once you opened them up, there was no closing them back up the way they were before. She did the best she could and laid the map down on Naru's desk.

His office was mess, books and files stacked up everywhere. She would have straightened up, but she was forbidden. So, she collected yesterday's dirty teacup from the saucer and brought it to the sink in the small break room to be washed.

Then, she lingered at the doorway, looking at the mess of Naru's office. The walls were lined with books on the paranormal, or so she assumed, the titles were all in English and she didn't understand what they said. The surface of the large desk was scattered with files, maps, books, and pens. In the center of the mess was Naru's laptop, turned off so that the screen was black. For such a neat-nick, Mai had never suspected Naru's office would be such a mess. Maybe that was why she was forbidden from cleaning it. Maybe he liked it that way.

The small bell on the front door jingled and Mai turned to bid 'good morning' to whoever had entered SPR's office. She had figured that it would have been Lin since he normally arrived shortly after she did, but surprisingly, it wasn't Lin.

It was Naru.

"Naru?" she asked.

"Tea," was all he said and made a beeline for his office. Surprisingly, he didn't remark about the fact that she had been standing in the threshold of his private office.

With a sigh, Mai made her boss a cup of tea, brought it to him, and set it down among the mess of things on his desk. She stood there, looking at him patiently, but he didn't thank her—not that he ever did—so she didn't even expect it anymore. Instead, she had been planning on asking him about the map, but he slid his glacier-blue eyes to her face and she retreated from the office without asking.

Sometimes, Naru seemed untouchable, not even that, but he looked like if she even tried to touch him, he might just shatter into a million pieces. Sometimes, he seemed dangerously close to breaking apart. Mai suspected that if or when that finally happened, nothing would ever put Naru back together again. Nothing on their plane of reality, that was—something from the Other Side would have to save him if that ever happened.

**I pulled into the driveway where she told me to go  
>Got out to help her from the car and opened up the door,<br>But I just could not believe my eyes, the backseat was bare.  
>I looked all around the car, but Mary wasn't there.<strong>

Mai fell asleep at her desk, her head cushioned on her folded arms. It wasn't long before she was whisked away into a dream. First, the kind warm light enveloped her, comforting her and soothing her, assuring her that she was in fact dreaming and that she would be safe no matter what she saw happening. Then, the comforting white light faded and she found herself standing alone on a darkened street.

"Naru?" she called out curiously. He always guided her into these kinds of dreams, but she didn't immediately see him. "Naru?"

When he didn't appear, she began walking down the darkened street. To her left was a high stone, covered with thick green climbing ivy, though she couldn't see over the wall she sensed there was a cemetery on the other side. Then, she reached the gates. They were strong heavy wrought iron gates, but two of the bars were burned and distorted. What looked like… handprints… had been burned into the metal. She gingerly touched the prints, but they faded and vanished before her eyes.

She gasped, clutching her hand against her chest.

"Mai."

She turned, meeting Naru's glacial eyes. But in her dreams, his eyes didn't seem cold at all. Rather, they seemed like warm lake water, comforting and so blue that it was more beautiful than usual. Then, his pale handsome face was decorated with the glowing smile. Each time Mai saw him in her dreams, she was always shocked by how kind and beautiful he looked.

"Naru," she murmured, smiling.

He reached out his hand.

She took it, his skin soft and cool against her own. "Why am I here? We're not on a case. Did you just want to talk to me?"

Without a word, he mysteriously smiled at her.

"Naru?"

"It's coming up," was all he said by way of explanation. "Just watch…"

Mai continued to hold his hand, standing at the gates of the cemetery, watching the road. A cool breeze blew through the trees, shaking the leaves. It was spring, flowers were beginning to bloom, new lives were being started, and everything seemed so peaceful. Then, Mai saw her.

The young woman was walking on the side of the road in a beautiful white party gown. It was old-fashioned, ruffled and the color of pale cream, beaded and beautiful. It looked more like a wedding dress than something to go to a party in, but Mai knew that was what it was. The young woman was also so beautiful. She had lovely long golden blonde hair that fell in waves around her pretty pale face. She had bright blue eyes the color of the sky.

At first sight, Mai thought that she would have loved to see this woman dressed in white with her pale hair stand beside Naru in his dark clothes and black hair.

They would have looked like photonegative images of each other.

Then, her heart began to pound with worry and she knew something terrible was going to happen. She opened her mouth to shout a warning, but Naru tugged gently on her hand. When she turned to look at him, he only shook his head and squeezed her fingers comfortingly. A stone formed in Mai's throat, choking her with tears and pain.

"No," she breathed.

The young woman in the ornate party gown was nearly to the gates of the cemetery now, a stiff spring breeze sending her pale hair and dress streaming backwards. Even so, she still looked so beautiful that she almost didn't seem real. Then, Mai saw the car coming. It was a red car, old-fashioned like the party dress, with lots of shining chrome and its engine purring like a kitten. Whoever owned that car clearly loved it a lot.

Mai's heart leaped into her throat. "No!" she shouted, trying to run forward. Anything to stop what she knew was about to happen. "No!"

Naru held her back, gripping her hand tightly, though she could feel his fingers trembling.

No one heard Mai's warning.

The red car was full of teenagers, maybe drunk, maybe just not paying attention, but either way, they never saw the girl in the white dress. She screamed, her voice shrill with terror, and the driver of the red car slammed on the brakes. The screeching of the car's tires and the girl's screams mingled. Mai was still screaming, too.

But it was over in a single heartbeat.

The red car smashed head-on into the young woman's body. She crashed backwards from the force, her body slamming into the wrought iron gate of Resurrection Cemetery a few feet from where Naru and Mai were standing. The white gown immediately bloomed with red roses of blood and it was clear the girl was already dead.

The teens in the red car panicked, screaming and shouting inside the vehicle. Then, the car jolted into reverse away from the girl's body and went tearing up the street. It was gone into the night within moments, a hit and run in one of the worst senses of the words.

Then, Mai saw the young woman's fingers weakly twitch. She was still alive and she was dying now, but there was nothing Mai could do to help her. She just had to watch. For what felt like a small eternity, the young woman in the white dress lay dying at the gates of the cemetery.

Then, finally, the white mist that was the girl's ghostly spirit rose up from her broken body. As if she didn't even see herself lying there, her spirit looked first down the road after the car that had killed her. Then, she turned her gaze back up the road and continued walking as if nothing had happened. As if she thought she was still alive.

Then, the scene around them faded, replaced with the warm kind light Mai associated with Naru in her dreams.

"How awful," Mai whispered to Naru.

He nodded. For once, his handsome face was un-smiling. In fact, he looked pale and trembling. His grip on her hand was even shivering faintly. It was as if the vision of the girl's death had troubled him greatly, but he had never looked so shaken before. Not even while they were in the bloodstained labyrinth of the Miyama mansion.

"Naru?" she asked.

"It's alright," he murmured and forced a smile just for her. "You can wake up now."

"Naru…" She stared at his face, so pale and haunted-looking. For once, he looked like a true spirit—like a ghost. "Are you really Naru?"

His smile fell. "No," he confessed.

"Then… who are you?" she asked.

He smiled. Then, the bright world around them began to fade away.

"Wait!" Mai pleaded. "Wait!"

"Wait for what?" Houshou asked her, his voice ringing through her head.

She woke with a start, a cry still caught in her throat. "Bou-san?" she asked when she recovered. "What are you doing here?"

"Actually," he said, scratching his head. "I have a case for Naru-bou. Last night, while I was on my way home from the gig, I picked up a girl hitchhiking, but she vanished when we reached Resurrection Cemetery. I mean _vanished_ right out of my car."

"Resurrection Cemetery?" Mai breathed.

"You know of it?" he asked.

She nodded. "I just… I just had a dream about it."

**A small light shone from the porch, a woman opened up the door  
>I asked about the little girl that I was looking for<br>Then, the lady gently smiled and brushed a tear away.  
>She said, 'It sure was nice of you to go out of your way.'<strong>

Houshou finished telling Naru about what he had experienced the night before, but Mai had kept her dream to herself. It didn't really seem necessary to tell Naru how the girl had died. In fact, she had no idea why she had even dreamed about it. Normally, she only dreamed things that were relevant to the case. How was the girl's death relevant?

"And that's it?" Naru asked, closing his book.

"Pretty much," Houshou said, scratching the back of his neck.

"And you want me to investigate this why?"

"Because she deserves to be at peace," the monk explained.

"I don't have time to go around investigating every single spirit that we see. Do you have any idea how many vanishing hitchhikers there are across the world?" Naru demanded.

"A lot, I would guess," Houshou said finally.

"Exactly," Naru said flatly. "Besides, hitchhiking ghost aren't dangerous. There's no reason to exorcise her."

"But—" Mai broke in

Naru cut her off. "You're welcome to try it, but I'm not interested." Naru stood up from his chair and headed towards his office.

Houshou sighed heavily. "Oh well. I guess that's that," he said softly.

"Naru!" Mai shouted, her compassionate nature immediately getting the better of her. "How could you do that?"

"Easily," he said flatly.

"Naru!" she shouted again, her voice echoing off the walls. "I watched that girl die in my dream! She was hit by a red car and she was still alive when they left her there on the side of the road! Bou-san is right! This girl… she deserves to rest in peace!"

Naru froze in the threshold of his office. "A red car?" he repeated.

Lin turned to look at his young ward, his normally expressionless face marked with an emotion Mai didn't understand. "Naru," he murmured, but then stopped speaking. It was as if he had no idea what to say to Naru next, but Mai did.

"How could you be so heartless? Don't you care at all about anyone other than yourself?" she shouted at her boss.

"Mai," Houshou murmured.

But she had worked herself into a state over this and there was no stopping her now. She continued to shout at Naru even as he crossed the office, took his black coat from the closet, and shrugged into it. She only shouted that he was running away from this even as he called to Lin and the Chinese man shrugged into his coat as well.

"Mai," Naru said.

"How can you be so self-centered?" she shouted.

"Mai."

"You're such a heartless jerk, Naru!"

"Mai!" he shouted at her.

It was then that she really took notice of the fact that Lin and Naru were standing at the doorway of SPR's office, waiting for her. Lin was even smiling faintly, though his eyes were touched by some darkness that she didn't understand. Naru had the same look on his face that he had in her dream—haunted, ghostly, broken, afraid even—but he hid it as best he could. Mai wasn't even sure she hadn't just imagined seeing that expression on his face.

Houshou had his jacket on too, pinching the bridge of his nose and smiling faintly. The monk held out her coat to her. "Ready to go, jou-chan?"

"Bou-san," she whispered and quickly put her jacket on. "Naru?"

"Let's go," was all he said.

A single tear welled up in Mai's coffee-colored eyes and she sniffled, smiling. Maybe Naru did have a heart after all. They broke up into two groups—Houshou and Mai in his small compact car, Lin and Naru in the black SPR van—and headed for Archer Avenue and Resurrection Cemetery.

'**But thirteen years ago today in a wreck just down the road  
>Our darling Mary lost her life and we still miss her so<br>So thank you for your trouble and the kindness you have shown  
>You're the thirteenth one who's been here, bringing Mary home.<strong>'

It turned out that so much as finding Resurrection Mary was taking more than a little bit of patience and luck. They had been driving up and down the road all day without success and now, night was falling. It turned out that night was the key they had been missing. Only a few minutes after dusk, Mai spotted the young woman's misty swirling shape taking form at the gates of the cemetery.

"Stop, Bou-san!" she shouted.

Immediately, the monk slammed on his brakes as he had the night before when Mary bid him too. Only this time, he watched Mai closely as she got out of his car and raced to where the young woman in white was standing. Mai was really eager to help this young girl—her vision of Mary's death must have been horrible.

"Mary, right?" Mai asked, smiling easily.

"Yes," the young woman said softly. Her voice was so sweet and gentle, fading in and out as if the wind was blowing it.

A chill prickled on Mai's skin and she realized that she had never been so close to a lingering spirit before. "Hi Mary. I'm Mai."

"Hello, Mai. You seem very nice, but I can't talk. I have to get home," Mary said. Then, she turned and looked up at the strong gates of Resurrection Cemetery. "I don't know why I'm always here," she said more to herself than to Mai. "I just want to go home, but I always wind up here. Even when I think I see my home, I'm always here."

"Would you like to go home?" Mai asked her.

"Yes, of course. I was at a party and… I left early because I had a fight with my boyfriend…"

"We'll help you go home. Wouldn't you like a ride?" Mai asked.

Mary nodded.

Mai gently took Mary's hand and led her to Houshou's waiting car. She slipped into the backseat beside Mary, choosing to leave the front seat vacant.

"Hi Mary," Houshou said softly. "Do you remember me?"

She stared at him, her blue eyes confused. "No… Did we meet at the party?"

"Bou-san, let's go to her house," Mai murmured.

"Right," he said. "Mary, where do you live?"

She looked even more confused, her pale brow wrinkling as she gazed out the window. Then, she lifted her hand, her arm slightly crooked as if broken, and pointed out the window at the gates of the cemetery beyond. "There," she murmured.

Mai knew that the phantom hitchhikers often vanished once they reached their destination, so she quickly grasped Mary's hand as if she could prevent the girl from vanishing. "That's a cemetery," Mai whispered. "Where do you live?"

"I… I…" Mary's eyes filled with tears. "I don't know."

Suddenly, the passenger side door opened and Naru slid into the front passenger seat beside Houshou. He had a small folder open in his lap and spoke to Houshou quickly, "Bou-san, head towards Mountain Avenue. It's a white house with a blue door."

Mary's eyes widened. "Yes… That's it," she breathed out.

Mai smiled at Naru, but his face still had that haunted expression on it. He didn't say a word to her, even when her smile fell and she nervously held Mary's hand a little tighter. How did Naru feel to be a ghost hunt only inches from a ghost?

"Bou-san?" Mai asked.

The monk began to drive.

Silently, Mary sat beside Mai. The cold of the spirit's hand was seeping into Mai's body, numbing first her fingers, then her wrist, and finally her entire arm. Even so, she didn't let Mary's hand go. She feared that if she did, Mary would vanish from the seat like so many other phantom hitchhikers. Then, they pulled to a stop in front of the house Naru had described.

"Is this where you live, Mary?" Mai asked gently.

Mary stared out the window at the white house. "But… the cemetery…"

Mai squeezed her hand comfortingly.

"Mary, listen to me, Resurrection Cemetery… is where you died…" Houshou murmured.

The girl's milk-white face seemed to drain of any shred of color she had left in her skin. "What? I'm not… not dead. I'm right here."

"Not that," Naru murmured. "She doesn't need to realize that she's already dead. She needs to come home. That's all her spirit wants."

"Naru-bou, how do you know that?" Houshou asked.

Naru didn't respond. "Mai," was all he said.

She nodded. Then, she reached around Mary, still holding her hand tightly so that girl wouldn't vanish before her, and opened the car door. They stepped out into the cool night and Mai shivered in her jacket, yet Mary didn't look as if the wind even touched her, not even her pale hair stirred with the breeze. Mary stared up at the white house, the windows glowing with warm amber light.

"My home," Mary whispered.

"Yes," Mai said gently. She helped Mary up the front steps, gently knocked on the door, and waited.

A moment later, an elderly lady answered the door. She had snow-white hair scraped into a braid and her watery blue eyes were red-rimmed as if she had been crying. The moment she laid eyes on Mary, who glowed faintly with her own ephemeral light even in the shadows, and Mai, fresh tears ran down her face.

"Mary," the woman breathed.

"Mom," Mary whispered. "You… you look so old. I was only gone for a few hours."

"Oh Mary," the woman sobbed. She embraced Mary tightly, crying into her daughter's pale hair and cradling her tightly as if she would disappear at a moment's notice. "You've been dead for over thirty years but here you are… you look the same you did the night you left… You're so beautiful."

Tears rolled down Mary's cheeks. "Mom," she cried, embracing the woman tightly. "I'm home." Then, her body dissolved into warm white light and drifted upwards through the ceiling of the porch and peace spread over the woman's face.

"Thank you," the woman said to Mai. "Thank you…"

Mai bowed to her, hurried back to Houshou's car, and climbed into the backseat. The trio went off into the night, driving past Resurrection Cemetery just to be certain that Mary wasn't standing there trying to find her way home again.

She wasn't.

Mary's soul had been laid to rest.

**Case Closed**

It was late. Lin had left earlier to go to dinner with Madoka and Houshou had another gig. Mai and Naru were the only ones remaining in SPR's office. Mai just couldn't stop thinking about her dream. Both Naru's had acted strange when they had seen or heard about Mary's death.

_A hit and run… a red car… being left to die…_

Why had it made both their faces look so haunted? And the Naru in her dreams and confessed to her that he wasn't Naru at all, so who was he? And why had Naru taken this case anyway? He never took anything just because Mai begged him. He only took a case if he was interested in it. But when Mai had said that Mary had been hit by a red car, he had suddenly changed his mind. Why?

She made her boss a cup of black tea and brought it to his office.

Naru was pouring over the map again, but he closed it up effortlessly when she entered his office and opened a book instead. "What do you want, Mai?" he asked tersely, even as his blue eyes went to the steaming mug of tea and a small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. He did like his tea.

"I just thought I'd bring you this before I left for home," she said, smiling.

Surprisingly, he said, "Thanks."

Mai wet her lips and dredged up enough courage to ask him what she was dying to know. "Naru, why did you take this case?"

"Because it was important to you."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "That's a lie and you know it. You don't take anything unless it interests you. You told Bou-san that you weren't taking it until I told you that Mary had been hit by a red car. Why was that important enough to change your mind?"

Naru sighed heavily and close his book. "You won't drop it, will you?"

"Nope," she said firmly.

Naru took a sip of his tea. "Someone important to me was hit by a car. I know I wouldn't want him to be a wandering spirit."

Her coffee-colored eyes widened. "That's all?" she asked.

He nodded. "Were you expecting something else?"

"No, not really. It's just… I don't know anything about you… and I want to…"

He didn't say anything.

"Who was hit by a car, Naru?"

"It's none of your concern," he said coldly.

Mai wasn't taking that—she was tired of Naru keeping everything secret from her and everyone else. The Naru in her dreams wasn't this Naru and there weren't many reasons for that unless… She would figure out the truth even if Naru killed her afterwards. "Naru, do you have a twin?"

His blue eyes widened sharply and then narrowed. "Who told you about Gene?"

"Gene?" she whispered. "Is that his name?"

He nodded, his face pale and his eyes hard.

"He's the one who was hit by a car? Your twin?"

"Yes," he said softly.

"I'm sorry," Mai whispered.

Naru turned away. "You can leave now, Mai."

She studied his body from the other side of the desk. Even though his face was pale and expressionless, hiding his feelings efficiently, she still saw the pain in the line of his shoulders and back. It was the same pain she often saw in her own face and body in the mirror since she had lost her parents. This was the pain of being alone in the world, of losing someone close to you. That was something Mai understood better than anyone and she hated to see the pain in her boss's strong figure.

Wordlessly, she went around his desk ad embraced him from behind.

"Mai, what—"

She squeezed his tightly. "I understand, Naru, and I'm sorry."

Surprisingly, he didn't push her away. Instead, he gently laid his cool fingers over her wrist where her warm arms wrapped around his narrow chest. Her skin looked so pale against his black shirt. He relaxed against her and she felt the pain flow from his back and shoulders, releasing him. She wondered how long had it been since Naru had let anyone comfort him or even hug him. He allowed her to hold him for just a moment before gently pushing her away.

"You can go home, Mai," he said softly.

"Sure," she murmured.

She turned to leave and he called out softly after her, "Thank you, Mai, for what you did for Mary."

Mai smiled to herself as she pulled on her jacket and hat and left the office. Outside, the night was cool and deep and she was certain to look both ways before crossing the streets. She knew she didn't mean too much to Naru, but she didn't want him to ever lose anyone important to him ever again.

**File Nine: Resurrection Mary**

Questions, comments, concerns?

And, _drum roll please_, we are finished! Very _important_ author's note:

First, drop a review and let me know what you think! Are the characters way out of character? Does everybody hate… anybody? Think I torture Naru way too much (but it's because deserves to suffer just a little bit for being a narcissistic jerk!)? Are permanently disgusted and can no longer even watch Ghost Hunt thanks to me? Loved it? Hated it? Are scared for life because of what happened to Mary and Gene? (Flames will be used to roast marshmallows and weenies!) Think I need to do more editing before I post chapters? Post to slow? Chapters are to short? To long? Yada, yada, yada…

Second, I own nothing except my original characters: even though there are none in here. I also own my plot! So there, now I can't be sued!

Third, anyone who wants to know why the red car was so meaningful **(SPOILERS!****)** and I quite Ghost Hunt Wiki. "One night, while walking home, Gene was run over by a woman in a red car. The woman, seeing him on the road, panicked. Instead of calling the police or an ambulance, she ran over him again to make sure he was dead. She then took his body to an auto-mechanic's shop, wrapped him up, and dumped him in a lake. Naru, who was still in England, had a psychometric vision of his brother's death when he tried to borrow some of Gene's clothes. He travelled to Japan in order to find his brother's body and set up SPR." **(SPOILERS!)**

Fourth, there will be no sequel… at all, so don't ask!

Fifth, check out my first ORIGINAL NOVEL! The Breaking of Poisonwood by **Paradise Avenger**. (Summary: People were dead. When Skye Davis bought me at a slave auction as a birthday present for his brother, I had no idea what my new life was going to be like, but I had never expected _this_. It all started when Venus de Luna was killed and I was to take her place, to become the new savior… Then, bad things happened and some people died. In the heart of the earth, we discovered the ancient being that Frank Davis had found and created and used to his advantage. The _Poisonwood_—)

Sixth, I would like to say that Resurrection Mary is in fact a real ghost and a real urban legend. She's the most well-known phantom hitchhiker though I changed parts of her story for plot-related reasons. She's very interesting and I would love to see SPR lay a spirit like her to rest.

Finally, thank you for making it this far! All the way to the end! Woot!

And so, I bid you adieu.


End file.
